BILL NUMBER: AB 1948	CHAPTERED  09/27/00

	CHAPTER   736
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 27, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 29, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 28, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 5, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 11, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dickerson

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2000

   An act relating to watersheds.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1948, Dickerson.  Watersheds.
   Existing law provides various mechanisms for funding the
restoration, maintenance, and management of watersheds.
   This bill would require the Secretary of the Resources Agency to
compile a report detailing major funding sources made available for
watershed projects within the state since  1995, including specified
information concerning, among other things, funding sources,
performance measures, and the management and administration of funds.
  The bill would require the secretary to update the report every 3
years.  The bill would require the secretary to make the report and
the updated reports available on the Internet and to provide copies
of those reports to the Legislature and the Governor, as prescribed.
The bill would provide that the bill shall become operative only if
AB 2117 of the 1999-2000 Regular Session is enacted and becomes
effective on or before January 1, 2001.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) The protection of California's watersheds is of critical
importance in securing the economic and environmental future of the
state.  Watersheds provide water, California's most valuable
commodity, which in turn sustains the engine of the state's
agricultural, urban, and rural economies.
   (b) California should facilitate and coordinate voluntary local
watershed management and rehabilitation efforts to assure the most
beneficial use of existing funding programs available for the
purposes of watershed planning.  Funding mechanisms that maintain and
protect these investments in the future should be assessed,
reviewed, considered, and continued.
   (c) Substantial funding for watershed management has been made
available to entities within California through various initiatives
and legislative actions, yet minimal oversight exists to ensure that
priority projects are funded, monitored for effectiveness, if
required to be monitored, and that entities are held accountable for
the accomplishment of projects.
   (d) Because there is no organized list of financial resources
available, many entities find it difficult to identify and apply for
grants or other funding sources for watershed management within
California.  A need exists for a centralized list and report of
watershed management funding sources and a record of all federal,
state, and private grants and of general obligation bond expenditures
since 1995 documenting the entities that have received funds, the
types of projects that have been funded, and an assessment whether
watershed improvements were documented, if required to be documented.
  This report will provide a benchmark to assess whether there is a
need to pursue additional funding sources for maintenance of past
efforts and state watershed management and restoration needs for the
future.
  SEC. 2.  (a) (1) The Secretary of the Resources Agency shall
compile a report major funding sources made available for watershed
projects in California since 1995.  The report shall provide an
analysis of major federal, state, and private grants and of general
obligation bond expenditures since 1995, including the entities or
types of entities that have received funds and the types of projects
that have been funded, and an assessment regarding whether the
results of the projects were quantified and documented, if those
results were required to be documented.  The analysis shall also
include summaries of types of projects, recipients, performance
measures and monitoring, if required, and recommended actions to
improve the effectiveness of how watershed funds are administered,
including identification of any funding gaps.  The report shall also
include all watershed management fund sources that are currently
available to entities within California, along with a description of
the process for applying for and the review of applications for grant
or funding approval.  To the extent feasible, the report shall also
contain a list of individual project grant recipients, the project
title, and the project location.
   (2) The Secretary of the Resources Agency shall update the report
described in paragraph (1) every three years.
   (b) The completed report shall be available on the Internet and
provided to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, the Senate
Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee, and the Governor not later
than November 1, 2002.  The updated reports shall be available on the
Internet and provided to the committees described in this
subdivision not later than November 1, 2005, and November 1 of every
third year thereafter.
  SEC. 3.  This act shall become operative only if Assembly Bill 2117
of the 1999-2000 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on
or before January 1, 2001.
